Taking miso beyond soup: chunky, fork tender Miso Braised Pork Shoulder

Winter is getting ready to prove to Chicago—and the upper Midwest—that it isn’t done with us yet. This oven-braised Miso Pork Shoulder first appeared on Blue Kitchen in November 2012, and it’s the perfect antidote for the coming snowy cold. Recipe below.

What’s the traditional sixth anniversary gift? If it’s a food blog anniversary, I’m going with pork. Yes, Blue Kitchen is six years old this month. A lot has changed for me foodwise in that time. For one thing, I feel like I know more about food than when I started—including how ungodly much I don’t know and will never know. But some things have remained the same, like my willingness to borrow ingredients from the global pantry and use them authentically or otherwise. This week, that ingredient is miso paste. [Read more here…]

Miso Braised Pork Shoulder: Because nothing comforts you like umami

Japanese miso paste adds a satisfying umami note to chunky pieces of pork and carrots braised with garlic, fresh ginger and onion. Recipe below.

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]W[/su_dropcap]hat’s the traditional sixth anniversary gift? If it’s a food blog anniversary, I’m going with pork. Yes, Blue Kitchen is six years old this month. A lot has changed for me foodwise in that time. For one thing, I feel like I know more about food than when I started—including how ungodly much I don’t know and will never know. But some things have remained the same, like my willingness to borrow ingredients from the global pantry and use them authentically or otherwise. This week, that ingredient is miso paste. Continue reading “Miso Braised Pork Shoulder: Because nothing comforts you like umami” →

Inspired by Columbus: Braised Pork Chops, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard

A trip to food-obsessed Columbus, Ohio inspires this autumnal combination of Braised Pork Chops with Sage, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Sautéed Swiss Chard with Garlic. Recipes below.

I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten so much in such a short time span as I did on a recent press trip to Columbus, Ohio. One afternoon, I called Marion from the hotel, where we’d been delivered to briefly rest and attempt to digest the day’s many delicious meals and snacks. I told her, “I’m full as a tick, and in an hour, they’re taking us to dinner!” Continue reading “Inspired by Columbus: Braised Pork Chops, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard” →

With dishes like this, every year should be called the year of the pig

Inspired by a traditional Italian dish and a memorable Chicago evening, Milk-braised Pork with Tarragon is complex, delicate and delicious. Recipe below.

The end of the year inevitably gets us thinking about what lies ahead. For that reason, my maternal grandmother always served pork on New Year’s Eve. She said it was because pigs root forward when searching for food, while chickens scratch backward. In the new year, you want to move ahead. Chicago chef Rob Levitt is making a big move ahead, swapping his toque for a butcher’s apron. By the time you read this, his new butcher shop The Butcher & Larder may well be open, selling cut-to-order meats and charcuterie from locally sourced, humanely raised animals. He’ll also offer a limited menu of sandwiches. I’m sure we’ll become regulars there. Marion was inspired to make this dish by a wonderful dinner Rob cooked on his last night at the Bucktown restaurant mado. I’ll let her tell you about it. Continue reading “With dishes like this, every year should be called the year of the pig” →

Real food, real quick: Wine-braised Chops and Potatoes are weeknight fast, comfort food good

Dijon mustard, tarragon and garlic add flavor, complexity to quick and easy Wine-braised Pork Chops and Potatoes. Recipe below.

I like to think I’m a fairly nonjudgmental person. Live and let live, celebrate our differences, walk a mile in another person’s shoes… Until I’m in the grocery store check-out line.

As you watch fellow shoppers unload their carts, piling box after bag after frozen package of processed “edible foodlike substances” (as Michael Pollan calls them) on the conveyor belt, it’s hard not to ask how they made it through the produce department without picking up a single fruit or vegetable. Or where are the eggs? The milk? Even the fresh meat, for that matter? And it’s easy to see why obesity, childhood diabetes and heart disease are reaching epidemic proportions in our country.

So it was particularly refreshing to visit the kitchen of four recent college graduates this weekend and see real food. Continue reading “Real food, real quick: Wine-braised Chops and Potatoes are weeknight fast, comfort food good” →

Rooting for the new year: Braised pork and cabbage

Cooked separately, paprika-seasoned pork and red cabbage with caraway seeds come together beautifully as Braised Pork and Cabbage. Recipes below.

As I said when I wrote about simple Christmas gifts last week, my maternal grandmother grew up on a farm. Even after she moved to the big city of St. Louis as a young woman, many of her ideas, traditions and even superstitions remained firmly rooted in that rural life. For New Year’s Eve dinner, she always insisted on eating pork. Her reasoning? Pigs root forward when searching for food; chickens scratch backward. In the new year, you want to move ahead. So for this New Year’s Eve post, I’m delighted to share this heavenly pork dish Marion made using humble ingredients. I think my grandmother would have loved it. Continue reading “Rooting for the new year: Braised pork and cabbage” →